A tougher seat belt bill hit an unexpected detour Thursday which could doom the bill's chances of passing this year. The South Carolina House sent the primary enforcement seat belt bill back to committee for more work. Sending a bill back to committee often kills it for the year.

Right now, South Carolina has secondary enforcement of its seat belt law. Drivers and passengers are required to buckle up, but police can't stop someone they see breaking the law. They can issue a ticket only if they pull the driver over for another violation first.

The bill would give the state primary enforcement, meaning police could pull over violators. And that's what has opponents concerned, that police could stop someone simply for not wearing a seat belt.

"We can decrease the fatalities, we can decrease the injuries through education as opposed to fines and the intrusive nature of this legislation," says Rep. Jim Merrill, R-Daniel Island, House majority leader.

All morning, he worked the floor trying to drum up support to send the bill back to committee. His hope is that recommitting the bill will kill it. "That would be my preference. I think the bill is a flawed bill and a dramatic intrusion on personal rights."

While he was lobbying House members to recommit the bill, Rep. Ronny Townsend, R-Anderson, was working the floor trying to stop him. He chairs the committee that passed the bill and will get it again now that it's been recommitted.

Ultimately, Merrill had the votes, and the House sent the bill back to committee by a voice vote.

Rep. Townsend won't say how likely he thinks it is that the bill will come back up this year. "Well, I don't think that there's ever a reason to say 'never' in the General Assembly," he says. "It just depends on the mindset of how folks react to what the changes are."

He says the most likely change will be to the fine, which is $25 in the current bill. Where that money would go could also change. The current bill has all proceeds going to the state's Amber Alert system, used to alert the state when a child is missing.